Divided by Detention: Asylum-Seeking Families’ Experiences of Separation
Today, the American Immigration Council releases Divided by Detention: Asylum-Seeking Families’ Experiences of Separation by Leigh Barrick. As the number of asylum-seeking families from El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Mexico arriving in the United States soared in recent years, the Obama Administration aggressively expanded family detention in an attempt to “deter” the arrival of others. This report profiles the experiences of five asylum-seeking families who are divided by detention and examines what happens when “family detention” does not actually keep loved ones together.
Here is part of one family’s story. The family fled extortion and death threats from a gang in Soyapango, El Salvador. Although the gang specifically targeted Vanessa’s husband, the risk extended to the whole family:
They were extorting my husband, and they would have killed him if he stayed. And then, if they didn’t do so immediately, they would kill everyone—they kill whole families. They rape the girls. I would not allow this for my daughter. I only have one daughter, and I have to seek the best for her.
KJ